The Ministry of Commerce has approved a plan by a Chinese auto parts maker to take over American battery maker A123 Systems Inc, Zhejiang Province's Department of Commerce announced Sunday.
The Chinese government has given the final approval to the acquisition move by Wanxiang Group Corp, based in East China's Zhejiang Province, after the National Development and Reform Commission issued an approval in October.
Wanxiang will compete with companies including the US-based Johnson Controls Inc, Germany's Siemens and Japan's NEC to buy the bankrupt A123, which

CHINA'S Wanxiang Group bid US$260 million for assets of car-battery maker A123 Systems Inc, winning a bankruptcy auction, officials said.
The assets purchased may include A123's automotive segment, energy-grid storage business, commercial business and US government business.
"I can tell you that we have won the bid, and the total value is about US$260 million," said Mo Xiaoping, a spokesman for Wanxiang Group based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. "From our side, we see no additional obstacles to complete the deal."
A123,

China's leading auto-parts maker Wanxiang Group said Friday it plans to resume production at Fisker after it purchased the firm in a 149.2 million-dollar deal this week.
Wanxiang will restart production in the coming months at Fisker's manufacturing plant in Finland and then at a disused plant in Delaware, United States, which Fisker bought from General Motors in 2010, the company said.
A U.S. court judge on Tuesday approved the deal in which Wanxiang purchased the bankrupt electric car maker based in California.
In the next 18 months, Wanxiang

A logo of Wanxiang Group is seen at China International Auto Parts Expo in Beijing, April 24, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]
Less than two years after being on the verge of bankruptcy, A123 Systems, a high-quality automotive battery manufacturer, has been on the mend with aid from multinational Wanxiang corporation headquartered in China's southeastern city of Hangzhou.
A123 expects to have a positive cash flow this year, then positive EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) in 2015, and will finally be profit positive in

Lu Guanqiu (right), chairman of Wanxiang Group, and Ni Pin, president of Wanxiang America, meet with media on July 25 in Washington. Liu Chang / China Daily
If companies operating in China want to expand to the United States successfully, there may not be a better example than the Wanxiang Group Corporation, the largest China-based automotive components company by revenue.
Wanxiang America's achievement has been associated with the US government's support and encouragement. Invited by Vice-President Joe Biden to visit several cities in the US from July 20-25,